Guan Baocai and He Suanpan waited nervously in their office. They had done as instructed, they kept their window open and lanterns unlit. 

“Are you sure about this? We have been waiting for an hour!” Baocai sneered.

“Be patient! My contacts are solid” Suanpan replied “The Crimson Flower Society has attacked the Lúse Family before, they surely would love to finish the job”

“And may I remind you that the opportunity we gave you three years ago allowed you to be where you are now” a voice said from the shadows.

Baocai and Suanpan turned startled, a shadowy figure stood just out of sight, as they turned to get a closer look, the figure spoke.

“That’s far enough, I know who you are, there is no need for us to be acquainted” “Who’s the target” it said.

“We need you to finish what you started, you need to wipe out the Lúse Family” He Suanpan spoke up.

“And our reward?” the shadow asked.

“It's on the table, along with the names and faces of the people we need you to eliminate” Guan Baocai said. It was a sizable amount of gold, if the operation went sideways, this could put the Jinzi Merchant Union in serious trouble.

“So? Will you get the job done?” Suanpan asked, only to receive no reply.

Both merchants turned around to find the shadow and their money gone.

_____________________________________________________________

“Mmm, I can’t seem to do it” Saman Pa said. Baek, Youlan and Shú threw their hands up in frustration.

Lán laughed, he was explaining to his friends the basics of the Azure Palace technique and was surprised that not even Geshe Saman Pa could find a way to manifest it.

“I can enter the state of deep meditation” Saman Pa said “But I just can't seem to imagine the palace in such vivid detail, it is a wonderful technique Young Master” 

Lán felt a little pride, he was excited and proud of himself for being able to develop what apparently seemed to be a difficult technique, he began to understand why the tome of the Azure Palace had been left in a corner of the Great Library of Húchéng.

It was a bitter sweet day for him, it was the last day of the summer festival and for all intents and purposes it had gone off without a hitch. He and his allies were celebrating on the top floor of the Green Lotus with the festival's grand finale happening just outside of the room’s windows.

With the amount of money they had earned the Lúse Family could finally break the grip of the Jinzi Merchant Group over Húchéng and begin to effect real change. But the end of the festival meant his fathers departure into the Murim, it was a wonderful night, and Lán wished it could last just a bit longer.

“So, what's next?” Shú asked.

“Tomorrow I become the official head of the Lúse Family, with the progress we have made over the past year we can finally regain control of Húchéng” Lán replied “With our base secured, we need to turn our attention to the Great Lake of Jianghu, the region also suffered three years ago, and many of the lords that followed my father fell or left us due to internal strife” 

“We have our work cut out for us Young Master” Baek said “I remember some of the lords that followed your father, they were hardy and stubborn men”

Shunk

Baek gasped as air escaped his lungs, he stumbled forward and fell to his knees, crashing his head on the table as he slid towards the floor.

Everyone looked in horror at the dagger coming out of his back.

A shadow leapt into the room through the open window, Youlan’s scream broke the silence as a second dagger flew straight at Lán.

Lán fell into the floor of the Azure Palace almost instinctively, he could feel a rush of panic, sadness, confusion, anger, as every single negative emotion began to flood his mind.

Lán took a second to register what was happening.  “Not now” Lán pushed his emotions deep beneath the calm lake “I need to focus”

Lán tried flickering between The Azure Palace and the real world, but the dagger was moving too fast, it inched ever closer towards his heart.

Lán focused, allowing just the adrenaline to mix with the state of deep concentration, he felt as if a barrier broke and his mind completely connected with his body. He was in The Azure Palace and the real world at the same time.

Time slowed to a crawl, he could see and feel everything, Baek on the floor as Saman Pa rushed to his aid, Shú running towards him and Youlan calling for help. He could even see the crimson flower on their assailants headband.

Lán tried to move, but failed to do so, he suddenly found every single bodily function requiring his input, breathing, swallowing, the erratic beating of his heart, all demanding his immediate focus.

He willed his body to move, using the medical knowledge he had accumulated to manually move each of his muscles. He shifted ever so slightly, he felt as his skin and muscles ripped apart until the dagger eventually hit the bone in his shoulder.

In an instant, time came crashing back, Lán fell sideways towards the floor, landing hard on the ground. He had managed to avoid instant death as the dagger hit his shoulder instead of his heart. 

Saman Pa rushed to reach Baek, but was quickly kicked backwards by their assailant, he hit the wall hard.

The assailant moved towards Lán, intending to finish the job, but he was stopped.

Baek, still conscious, grabbed the man’s leg with all of his might, as Shú tried to tackle him to slow him down.

“Leave us alone!” Shú screamed.

“Get off me you maggots!” the shadow kicked at the hand holding him to no avail. Baek would never let go.

Their assailant grabbed Shú with both hands and lifted her into the air by the neck, Shú gasped for air and struggled as the man strangled her, legs scrambling trying to reach the ground.

A bowl of soup splashed over their assailant, followed by a cup and some silverware as Youlan threw whatever was in her reach towards him. The man used one of his hands to wipe his face and deflect the incoming kitchenware. 

He grunted as he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He let go of Shú and stumbled backwards, still being held by Baek, he tripped and fell back out of the window, landing three floors down with a resounding SPLAT

Saman Pa got up immediately followed by Lán as they both rushed to Baek’s side 

“Shú I need you to run to the clinic and get help! Quickly!” Lán looked over his shoulder.

The young girl was paralyzed, her face pale as a single tear fell down her cheek, her hands covered with blood as they clutched a dagger given to her months ago.

Youlan rushed to the young girl and held her tightly. “It's okay, it's over” she whispered.

Guards and staff quickly filled the room. Lán stood up to give them orders but was held back by Saman Pa.

Lán turned to look at the body of Baek, there was so much blood. “He can’t, please, I can’t” Lán muttered. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and blood fell from his nose as Lán collapsed on the floor.